Con Ed ready to transform your weekend along Avenue A!

We're back on Bay watch along Avenue A. 

The Bay Crane team is out in force this morning for what we understand will be the installation of a new transformer at the Con Ed substation on Avenue A between Fifth Street and Sixth Street. 

Posted signage last weekend tipped us off to this event ... though with some cliffhanging — maybe it will happen March 4-5... or maybe March 11-12! ("We don't really know!" didn't fit on the sign.)

The sign leaves out some vital info... like Avenue A is closed through traffic from Fourth Street to Seventh Street. (Perhaps that was optional to include, given the 47 flatbed trucks and various cranes parked along A.)

The transformer work here, often 17 workers directing a beeping forklift, started as we welcomed 2023 ... 

Could this be the guest of honor?

Anyway! Pull up a chair and umbrella and enjoy.

Friday's parting shot

Night 1 of three nights with Unwound at Irving Plaza (with Horsegirl tonight!) ...

After 'Sun'

 

The New Colossus Festival continues this weekend at neighborhood music venues (Pianos, Mercury Lounge, Berlin, Heaven Can Wait, Bowery Electric and Arlene's Grocery). 

Among the many acts to play: Local band Lukka, on a dream pop-shoegaze bill tomorrow night at Arlene's. 

The video here is for "Wisdom of the Sun."

A clothing swap at Fish Bar

The folks behind the Swap NYC Instagram account are hosting an event tomorrow (Saturday!) at Fish Bar. 

Interested parties may bring in unwanted clothing, accessories or jewelry (nothing dirty or damaged!) to exchange for other items from attendees. 

It's happening from 1-3 p.m. at the good ol' Fish Bar, 237 E. Fifth St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square.

The owner of A&C Kitchen on Avenue C would like to reopen his business now

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

On Feb. 27, a two-alarm fire broke out at 136 Avenue C between Eighth Street and Ninth Street.

Initial reports put the blame on a "lit object" discarded from a window down to the courtyard in the rear of the building. 

 The fire destroyed a ground-floor apartment. As a precaution, the FDNY opened up some walls and the ceiling in the kitchen at the Wayland on the corner, causing them to be closed for a few days to repair the drywall. (They reopened on March 2.) 

Meanwhile, A&C Kitchen, the longtime quick-serve and affordable Chinese restaurant sustained some water damage — mostly in its basement. 

Now, more than 10 days after the fire, Mr. Li, who has owned A&C Kitchen for the past 30 years, is frustrated with the city's response and the bureaucratic process.

Mr. Li says the electricity and gas are still turned off to his business, even though they have restored both services to the residents and nearby commercial tenants. 

He pointed out that there is no fire damage to his restaurant and that any water damage in the basement has been cleaned up and the smoke scent mediated. Still, he has lost two weeks of business. 

He is actively looking for assistance from the community and hopes that local elected officials might help him cut through the red tape...

Mr. Li also noted that people who live in the building are still tossing lit cigarettes out the windows and fears they may have a similar issue again...

Shinn East expands on 7th Street

Photo by Stacie Joy

ICYMI... Shinn East recently expanded at 119 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue... moving into the storefront to the east. 

The Omakase spot first opened here in May 2020.

They take over the space vacated by [plant-baked], whose owners decided to close its brick-and-mortar operation last September after 18 months in business. (Their online enterprise continues.)

A rally at City Hall for the former Charas/El Bohio Community Center

Residents and supporters of the former Charas/El Bohio Community Center at 609 E. Ninth St. between Avenue B and Avenue C have organized a rally at City Hall for March 15. 

Per the invite, attendees will "demand the city right the wrongs of the past and return our community center."

The rally starts at 11 a.m. on the south plaza outside City Hall this Wednesday.

The action comes before the landmarked building heads to a foreclosure auction on March 22 at the Hilton New York Midtown Fifth Avenue. (There is a Facebook invite to "Stop the Auction.")

The property that developer Gregg Singer purchased during a city auction in 1998 for $3.15 million fell into foreclosure last year. Through the years, Singer wanted to turn the one-time P.S. 64 into a dorm (more here), though those plans never materialized. 

In October 2017, then-Mayor de Blasio's statement at a Town Hall put forth the idea that the city would take steps to reacquire the building. 

Some residents want to see the space used again as a community center, as it was during its time as Charas/El Bohio Community Center. Singer evicted the group on Dec. 27, 2001.  

There's also a petition in circulation titled, "Save Charas Community Center! Stop the Private Auction!"

Per the petition, which states, "Demand Mayor Adams use eminent domain to return the center to the people!"

For 22 years, from 1979 to 2001, 605 E. Ninth St. served as the home to the Charas/El Bohio Community & Cultural Center. Each year, thousands of people attended programs there. Charas hosted community meetings, children’s programming, art exhibits, music concerts, film screenings, plays, dance recitals, bicycle recycling, construction and youth jobs training, substance abuse treatment, and political organizing. 

In 1998, Rudy Giuliani sold Charas to a campaign contributor [Gregg Singer] for a paltry $3.15 million, and in December of 2001, Charas was evicted from the space, and the center was shuttered.

You can find the petition here.

News flush: The Tompkins Square Park restrooms, open once more

Photos by Stacie Joy 

The saga continues... so! After the restrooms reopened to the public this past weekend in Tompkins Square Park for the first time in four months... the men's and women's rooms were promptly shuttered on Monday.

Why? According to a Parks employee, workers installed a new toilet on the women's side, but the flange was faulty and leaking. Plumbers (or whomever) were called to the scene. Yesterday, the repair was made... and the restrooms reopened once more.

Here is the newest addition to the women's restroom... inside a stall still wrapped in some caution tape...

... the new toilet lovingly plastered to the wall "in wonky Tompkins fashion," per EVG contributor Stacie Joy...

For the time being, the restroom hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (!?) ... until the restrooms are locked up again when the field house renovations start this month.

As previously noted, during the 18-month reconstruction project, parkgoers are expected to use restrooms at the McKinley Playground on Fourth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue adjacent to P.S. 63/the Neighborhood School.

Renovations underway at the former Dallas BBQ

Photos by Steven 

The gutting of the old Dallas BBQ has begun on the NE corner of Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place...

Workers said that they didn't know anything about the new tenant.

Last June, hospitality vet Curt Huegel, whose portfolio includes concepts such as Bill's Townhouse, Campagnola and Printers Alley, received Community Board approval for the unnamed establishment. There was some debate over closing time, and the committee wouldn't approve a 4 a.m. close. Huegel did not respond to previous emails about whether he was still taking the prime space.

Dallas BBQ closed this past December after anchoring the corner since the mid-1980s. According to staff, the building's landlord would not renew the chainlet's lease and opted to rent the space to another business. 

First sign of the new Ichibantei outpost on 3rd Avenue

There's a help wanted sign up at 100 Third Ave. between 12th Street and 13th Street for Ichibantei Noodles, an apparent sibling to Ichibantei, which has been serving Japanese soul food since 2010 at 401 E. 13th St. near First Ave. (Thanks to EVG reader Tiffany Pan for the photo!)

This restaurant has been in the works for awhile... reps for Ichibantei received approval from CB3 last June. (According to the questionnaire on file at the CB3 website, the establishment would feature room for 24 tables/98 seats spread over two floors.)

No. 100 last housed the vowel-deficient club VNYL, which shut down at some point during the pandemic. Until September 2015, the renovated building featured the second iteration of Nevada Smiths.